NATIONAL ROSE CONFERENCE. 



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the nurserymen take little notice of it in their catalogues, and at 

 the great Rose exhibitions and contests the possession of a fra- 

 grance, however exquisite, is not even accounted a merit. 



If we have not gained in these particulars, what have we 

 lost ? Now there was, at the time to which I have referred, a 

 class of Roses in general cultivation, very few 7 of the true 

 varieties of which are now to be obtained — I allude to the 

 "Bourbon" Roses. The true Bourbons w T ere certain autumn 

 bloomers — and what is more, their autumn blooms in general 

 surpassed those which they produced in summer. 



But they were not large — and though they had a scent, and 

 a very sweet scent too, and w r ere of a hardy constitution, they 

 have not been allowed to survive. What has become of them ? 



No man has done more than Mr. William Paul of Waltham 

 Cross for the cultivation of the Rose, or so much to render it 

 attractive to the amateur. In my copy of his delightful book 

 " The Rose Garden," w r hich was published in 1848, the list of 

 Bourbons contained the names of one hundred and eighty-eight 

 varieties. They were of all colours, passing from the pure white 

 of " Acidalie " to the beautiful fawn colour of " Madame 

 Angelina," through various grades of rose and crimson to 

 " Margat Jeune," "Madame Margat," "Julie de Fontenelle " 

 and others, and then to the rich crimson and the deeper shades 

 of "Proserpine," " La Quintinie," and " Reveil." 



Nothing could exceed the attractive charm of these Roses 

 early on an autumn morning, with their firm, substantial, and 

 evenly disposed petals, and their handsome foliage ; but they 

 were not w T hat an old-fashioned gardener in one of Mr. Trollope's 

 novels contemptuously spoke of as "wallopers," and this had 

 been fatal to them. Fashion issued her decree that admiration 

 and enjoyment is only to be had in combination with a certain 

 size, and so the Bourbons have been improved away. The last 

 edition of Mr. Paul's book, that of 1888, can boast only of thirty- 

 three Bourbon names, and of these many have been so crossed 

 with other races that they cease to exhibit their original 

 characteristics. 



And why have they thus passed away ? Fashion has killed 

 the demand for them. As the yearly batches of new " Hybrid 

 Perpetuals " come into the market, their glories are trumpeted 

 forth in all the floral publications — they shine resplendent at 



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